


Starfall

by Oswald



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-27
Updated: 2012-03-27
Packaged: 2017-11-02 14:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/369881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oswald/pseuds/Oswald
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Falling forever....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starfall

  
    The last thing Wheatley knew was that he was in space. The cold, dark, vast of space…and that he was sorry.

            Not that he’d been tossed into space—well, obviously, he was sorry about that. But, he knew he deserved it—he was mean, he was bossy, he called her names that he didn’t even mean. Even GLaDOs was better then him in the end…and she was the meanest of them all.

            But he was sorry to _her_ —the pretty lady with the brown hair…Chell. Her name was _Chell_ , not lady, certainly not bossy.

            _Chell_.

            He missed her. Sure she was quiet…hell, she was _silent_. But she never yelled at him, was never cross or mean…not even in their last moments together.

            All he wanted was to say that he was sorry—that he would have never done it if he had the chance to go back and try again. That he would get them out and they would be _friends_ …he wanted so much to see her again.

            But he was in space—empty, cold, space. And she was down on earth.

            The last thing Wheatley knew was that he was in space.

            And then he wasn’t.

            He was falling.

            _Like a star_ …

~*~

            She didn’t know what it was, where it had come from. All she knew was that it fell from the sky…faster and faster, the streak of white landed with a _boom_ , landed in her wheat patch.

            Sure, at first, she was miffed—wheat was food, food in a place where there was already very little. But hey…what a sight it was to see—a brilliant flash of light that lit up the patch like the sun... _beautiful_.

            And then she saw _him_ …he was still babbling about falling, still terrified out of his little animatronic mind. But he was _alive_.

            How he survived impact, survived _freefall through space_ , she would never know—maybe it was just fate, smiling down on her…for once.

            Sure, he’d been an ass the last time she saw him. A _monster_. But that’s what happens when people who shouldn’t get power get it, right? They make mistakes.

            Besides, the burnt cube didn’t talk anymore. She needed _someone_ to keep her company.

            So Chell ran back to her makeshift house, found her old jumpsuit, and waited patiently for the sphere to stop smoldering.

            And then she wrapped him up and took him home.

~*~

            Chell guessed that the fall had knocked him a little silly—for the first day, the only thing he repeated was a recipe for chocolate cake. The day after that, it was something about fish stock.

            She let him babble on—she had chores to do, wheat to harvest, animals to hunt. The companion cube seemed to be a little happier on Wheatley’s arrival—like seeing an old friend after a long spell. It was almost cute (though when Wheatley started screaming about combustible lemons before sunrise, the cuteness quickly dissipated)

            By the third day, he seemed to come too. She awoke with him talking to himself (as usual), asking where he was, and if the companion cube was feeling any better (the cube didn’t respond—it didn’t much like being asked about it’s bath in fire, she supposed)

            “OH! Lady!!” Wheatley had cried out when she walked from her room—he seemed surprised…bashful, “ _Chell_ —your name’s Chell, not lady… _Chell, Chell_ …how do you pronounce that? Like ‘ _Sh_ ’ like ‘Shells’? Sorry, I’m not too good with names—“

            She smiled as he babbled on, sitting down in front of him.

            “Oh, you can smile? I-I mean, you smiled! I-I-I know I’m being rude but—I’ve never seen you _smile_ before! Does that mean you understand me? I-Imean, _obviously_ you understand me, bu-but—“

            She seemed to laugh silently, pulling her knees to her chest. So long had it been since she heard another voice—one that wasn’t harsh like GlaDOs, wasn’t saccharine sweet like Companion Cube used to be.

            Just a normal talking voice.

            “L-Look, I-I…I’m _sorry_ ,” Wheatley said mournfully, “I’m sorry I was mean, I’m sorry I was bossy, I’m sorry I called you names—I know you’ll never forgive me, but I’m so _sorry_.”

            If he were human, Chell supposed he would be crying. And as he continued to tell her how _sorry_ he was, what a _terrible, awful_ thing _he_ was, she couldn’t help it. She gathered the sphere into her lap, wrapping her arms around him. He was warm, he was so very warm—and he _hummed_. It tickled her stomach.

            “I forgive you,” She whispered.

~*~

_Sometimes they sit outside and watch the stars. Wheatley isn’t very fond of starwatching—he certainly saw enough in his time circling the orbit, but she gets this smile on her face when they do._

_He can take one for the team, he supposes._

**Author's Note:**

> Not a lot of notes for this one:  
> Portal belongs to VALVE


End file.
